


Cypher

by Jee_Eun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Character Death, Gangs, M/M, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2020-11-22 23:37:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20882546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jee_Eun/pseuds/Jee_Eun
Summary: Lee Taeyong meant to leave life on the streets behind and bury his past, but sometimes the past doesn't want to be buried.Na Jaemin wanted a quiet life with his boyfriend, but some things just aren't meant to be.





	1. Part One: Taeyong

_atrox melior dulcissima veritas mendaciis_

the bitter truth is better than the sweetest lies


	2. Chapter 2

“Lee Taeyong. CEO Jung would like to see you up in his office,” a cool voice broke Taeyong out of his state of hyperfocus. He looked up to see Kim Doyoung, secretary to CEO Jung Jaehyun. 

“RIP,” one of his coworkers muttered under their breath, probably Joy. 

Taeyong shot a dirty look in the direction the voice came from before getting up from his desk.

“Follow me,” Doyoung beckoned for Taeyong to follow him causing Taeyong to furrow his brows in confusion. At Jung Enterprises, there were two CEOs, Jung Jaehyun and Jung Yoonoh and the duties of CEO had been divided between the two brothers. His line of work, programming and IT, fell under Yoonoh’s umbrella of responsibilities. 

Doyoung led him out of the IT office, past the elevators and to the door that separated CEO Yoonoh’s half of the building from CEO Jaehyun’s. Rumor had it that Jaehyun’s side of the building was a perfect mirror of Yoonoh’s side of the building and they did all the same things Yoonoh’s side did, just focused on international work (which made no sense because Yoonoh’s side had an international team on floor nine). 

Doyoung punched in a pin on the keypad next to the door, making sure that it was out of Taeyong’s line of sight. The door beeped open. 

“Right this way Mr. Lee,” Doyoung led him into Jaehyun’s side of the building.

The rumors were right. Jaehyun’s side of the building was clearly designed to be a perfect mirror of Yoonoh’s side. However, there was a certain atmosphere of coldness that Yoonoh’s side didn’t have and a lack of people and color. Doyoung pressed the button for the elevator.

“So why does CEO Jung wish to see me?” Taeyong asked in a small voice. Doyoung just stared at him with a bored expression, “Right.”

The elevator announced its arrival with a loud ding.

The elevator brought them up to the top floor where all of the high pay grades worked.

“Hey Xiaojun, add Johnny to Friday’s schedule,” Doyoung instructed as they passed the receptionist who was busy typing on his computer. 

“Gotcha Doyoung. Got you a coffee and a bagel from the cafe during my lunch,” Xiaojun didn’t even tear his eyes from his large monitor as he spoke, “It’s sitting on your desk. Jaehyun’s last meeting just ended so you should be free to go in.”

Doyoung led Taeyong down the hall to the large door labelled “CEO”. He knocked on the door twice before pushing it open, “Jaehyun. Lee Taeyong is here.”

“Perfect,” a voice came from inside the office, “Send him in.”

Doyoung pushed Taeyong through the door, shutting it behind him. 

“CEO Jung, you requested to see me?” Taeyong asked, his voice wavering slightly from the nerves. 

Jaehyun’s office was large and open with large windows behind his desk. Bookshelves made up the majority of the wall space, filled with books among other knick knacks and, what looked to be some weapons. Jaehyun himself was standing by the window, looking down at the city below, a file in his right hand.

“I would like to offer you a promotion,” Jaehyun stated, turning from the window and facing Taeyong. 

Taeyong was taken aback for a moment, looking at the CEO. He was tall and quite attractive, albeit a more harsher sort of handsome than his brother. Where Yoonoh was all soft lines and dimples, Jaehyun was harsh and muscled. 

“I’m sorry?” Taeyong furrowed his eyebrows, “I thought IT fell under your brother’s duties.”

“It does. But you are one of two programmers in IT, correct?” Jaehyun asked.

“Yes,” Taeyong confirmed. 

“And you are the one with cybersecurity experience,” Jaehyun stated. Taeyong’s blood ran cold. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Taeyong lied, “My degree is Computer Science with a minor in Music. I only took one Cybersecurity class because it was required for my major.”

“Then you have no clue what goes on in my side of the business?” Jaehyun smirked, walking towards Taeyong. 

“No one knows what goes on in your side of the business aside from your employees,” Taeyong chose his words carefully, playing it safe.

“And a hacker that goes by the name of Cypher,” Jaehyun stated, a little too calmly for Taeyong’s liking.

“Cypher?” Taeyong tilted his head, confusion taking over his face, “Who’s Cypher?”

“You can quit the act. I know you’re Cypher,” Jaehyun tossed the file onto his desk.  _ ‘Lee Taeyong’ _ was printed on the front in bright red letters. Taeyong seized the file but Jaehyun stopped him. 

“What gave me away?” Taeyong asked, letting his act shatter. Worry etched itself deep inside of him but he didn’t let it show, he couldn’t afford to go to jail again. 

“I ha-ad a hacker of my own. He went by the name of Zeus. He tracked you down shortly after you first hacked in,” Jaehyun stated, “We let you be as there was no harm done and we weren’t sure how far you managed to get in the system.”

“Then why call me in now? That happened years ago when I was first hired,” Taeyong asked.

“Because I had Zeus keep an eye on you. You’ve hacked in our systems on a regular basis. With ease too, even though we have one of, if not the best security on our computers in the world,” Jaehyun sighed, “Zeus was killed recently. You know about our side of the business so you know what we do. We had another encounter with the Oh family. This time, they broke into Zeus’ apartment and murdered him, though not without Zeus taking out three of their own.”

“So now that your hacker is dead, you need a new one and want me?” Taeyong asked.

“Naturally, I know your past. You're on a list of hackers kept by the government in more than 50 countries you know.”

“I was young and reckless back then. I no longer want anything to do with that life. I left it behind for a reason,” Taeyong’s mouth formed a thin line, “Besides, you already have one Lee in your ranks.”

“Mark is in charge of recruitment and publicity. Besides, he doesn’t have your skills with computers, no one does,” Jaehyun opened the file for Taeyong to see. “I keep tabs on all of the employees in this company but your file is one of the most extensive.”

The file was indeed thick. There was the photo taken of him for his ID when he first entered the company and a couple of photos of him out on the streets. The left side of the file seemed to be all of the basic information on him and everything that he had put up as a front. On the right side, under the word  _ ‘Cypher” _ was a list of his accomplishments as a hacker. 

Taeyong darted forward and grabbed the file, curious to see just how much Jaehyun knew about him. He skimmed through the file, glancing over the information. Jaehyun was good, Taeyong had to admit, he gained information buried so deep that Taeyong thought that no one would ever be able to get it. He knew exactly which Lee he had in front of him.

“How many others?” Taeyong asked.

“How many other copies or how many other people know this information?”

“Both.”

“No other copies and the only person who has read through it in its entirety aside from myself is you,” Jaehyun stated.

“Good,” Taeyong tossed the folder into the paper shredder next to Jaehyun’s desk. 

Jaehyun merely shrugged at the loss of the file, “You realize I could easily retrieve all that information, right?”

“I know. But you won’t,” Taeyong relaxed his posture, sitting down at Jaehyun’s plush desk chair. 

“Why not?” Jaehyun asked.

“Because I have kept tabs on every single gang member this city has ever had. Every single connection my father once had. I have every single one of you on file. Every illegal act recorded with evidence. I could easily release all that information to the police,” Taeyong laid out one of his many cards.

Jaehyun regarded him with cold eyes, “You could, but you would also be revealing yourself in the process.”

“A small price to pay,” Taeyong answered easily.

“With a target on your head and every gang in the country on your ass,” Jaehyun deadpanned, “I have a proposition that may benefit both of us.” 

Taeyong tilted his head to the side, “I’m listening.” 

Jaehyun mused, “You join my side of the company for a generous pay raise, protection, and I won’t make another copy of your file. I will allow you to wipe all information on yourself out of the system if you so wish.”

“And in return I have to do your dirty work?” Taeyong aired on the side of caution. 

“You wouldn’t be getting your hands dirty, but in a sense, yes. You would be my eyes and ears in many ways. All you’d have to do is get information, keep tabs on the underground, and do an occasional surveillance piece to help out our operatives on the ground,” Jaehyun stated, “You wouldn’t be pulling the trigger.”

“I left that life behind,” Taeyong moved so that he was almost lounging in his seat, “Your fancy file may have a lot of information but you don’t even know half of it.”

“And yet you decided to work for a company that runs the underground?” Jaehyun raised an eyebrow, “Seems to me that this life calls to you. It’s in your blood. You’re a Lee, whether you like it or not.”

“It was the easiest way to keep tabs on that life. Make sure no one was looking for me. Make sure the others are okay.”

“You wouldn’t have to be known as Lee Taeyong, you could be known as Cypher or a different name if that is what you wish.”

“And I wouldn’t have to kill?”

“Not a soul.”

“I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, you'll probably notice that I changed the tags and am editing this chapter and removing the other chapters that are up. That's because I've been stuck on this fic for a while and I realized that it's because I've been trying to work in a relationship that doesn't fit in well with the plot. The relationship is still there and is implied but I realized that it shouldn't be the spotlight as it simply doesn't fit.


	3. Chapter 3

Taeyong had been keeping tabs on the underground for years. However, it wasn’t until it became his job to monitor the underground that he realized how little he had been checking in. For years he had been checking in at random whenever he happened to have the time and energy. Now he was able to monitor much more regularly and more often. Jaehyun’s well informed grapevine also helped him keep up to date with the happenings in other gangs. 

All in all, he had a pretty nice gig set up at Jung Enterprises with the added bonus of a brand new supercomputer that Jaehyun had built for him. A welcoming gift according to the man in question, his secretary had called it a courting gift with a roll of his eyes. 

“Cypher!” a voice broke through the headset that he had taken to wearing while at work, cutting off his music. “It’s Yuta. Need an escape route, ASAP.”

Taeyong twirled himself around to view the many monitors that held CCTV footage from the building Yuta was in and the floorplans. “They have men at every exit but if you go left, there’s only two, how much of a pain they’re gonna be, I don’t know. They look thin but that doesn’t account for training.”

His eyes followed Yuta as he ran down the left hallway, halting once to shoot the two men in the hallway.

“Thanks Cypher. Where now?” Yuta panted.

“Go right and then the first hallway to your right leads outside. There currently aren’t any guards within the sight of the cameras,” Taeyong stated. He watched Yuta make it safely out of the building and into the crowd before returning to his previous project. 

“Now where are you?” Taeyong mumbled to himself, his eyes darting across all the monitors he had surrounding him.

“Cypher. I need you upstairs in 5,” Jaehyun’s voice came through the headset. Taeyong sighed, halting his project before making his way out of his little web. 

Taeyong strolled into Jaehyun’s office to find Jaehyun and Doyoung talking together, huddled around a tablet in Doyoung’s hands. 

“Taeyong. Do you know a hacker that goes by the name of Key?” Jaehyun asked, looking up briefly from the tablet to see who entered his office. 

“Yeah. He’s an old friend of my cousin’s. Don’t waste your time trying to find him though, he disappeared more than three months ago,” Taeyong shrugged. 

“Disappeared?” Doyoung looked up from the tablet. 

“Yeah. Shit went down, you know how it is,” Taeyong mused, “We talked once since then under a shit ton of cyber protection.” 

Jaehyun frowned, “Why exactly did he go underground?”

“I don’t know the details but my cousin Onew works with a gang close to the Oh Family. Key and Onew are old friends and Onew landed him a job for the Ohs. Well, it didn’t go as planned and according to Key, Onew ratted on him being with the Ohs to another hacker who was working against them. They put a hit out on Key so he decided to lay low for a while until someone else took that hacker out,” Taeyong explained, “Key doesn’t even know who the other hacker is. He never got that far before Onew threw him under.”

“Who the fuck ratted out Zeus then?” Jaehyun growled, “Check the files, try and figure out who put a hit out on Key. Maybe we can use that to figure out who killed Zeus.” 

“It was probably the Oh family’s hacker. I think their name is D.O? I’m not really sure to be honest. I’ve crawled around his systems more times than I can count but I have no clue his name off the top of my head,” Taeyong thought for a moment, “Anyways, the Oh family has a halfway decent dude but you would think that they would have someone better.”

“Thanks for your help Taeyong,” Jaehyun sighed, “And try to get in contact with Key if you can.” 

Taeyong took that as his dismissal and made his way back down the stairs. In his little computer web, he took out his laptop and sent out a simple encoded message that he knew only Key would be able to decode,  _ ‘Be Careful.’ _

Taeyong knew Key could decode his message. Key was the one who taught Taeyong in the beginning when they were both still young. And he certainly had no qualms about selling out D.O. in order to keep Key safe. 

Taeyong focused on his project once more, “Where are you?” 

Even though Taeyong had plenty of money to upgrade his apartment, Taeyong insisted on living fairly under the radar. 

As such, he had a small crappy apartment with a small presence. He had a small kitchen that he was constantly baking in and a small living area that didn’t even have a TV, just a couch with a coffee table and a bookcase. His bedroom was also small, housing his bed, a mirror, and a wardrobe. He had the bare necessities in his small, barely furnished and undecorated apartment, but it was home. No one ever visited and he had no need to impress anyone. 

However, when he returned to his apartment that evening, he could immediately tell someone was inside. He slipped a hand into his bag and grabbed the small gun he kept there for emergencies. 

He held it tightly, turning the door handle and entering his apartment, raising the gun the second the door closed behind him with a light thud.

“Hi hyung!” the boy, that’s all he really was (to Taeyong at least), waved happily. He lowered the gun. 

“Jeno?!” Taeyong asked, disbelief painting his features. He then noticed the other figure in his kitchen, “And guest?!” 

“Hyung, this is Jaemin, he’s my boyfriend. He knows everything so you don’t have to lie,” Jeno smiled, his eyes crinkling into little crescents. He moved out from behind the kitchen counter. 

“Jeno, you can’t just break into my apartment! How do you even know where I live?” Taeyong scolded, swatting at him half heartedly. 

“Easy. I asked Mark,” Jeno grinned, pleased with himself. 

“And how does Mark know where I live?” Taeyong raised an eyebrow. 

“He keeps tabs just as much as you do,” Jeno smirked before capturing Taeyong into a hug, “Hyung are you eating enough? You’re awfully skinny.” 

“Yes Jeno, I’ve been eating. Now why are you in my apartment?” Taeyong attempted to push Jeno away, stupid muscle pig who enjoys working out. 

“So you can meet Jaemin! He’s making dinner so now you have to eat!” Jeno gave a shit eating grin before finally releasing Taeyong. 

“You gremlin!” Taeyong scowled, “And stop working out so much!”

“Never hyung!” Jeno laughed. 

“Brat,” Taeyong’s scowl turned more playful as he went into his bedroom to get changed quickly. 

When he returned to the living room, he found that Jeno and Jaemin somehow managed to convert the coffee table into a full on dining table. The couple sat lotus position with their legs under the table waiting for him. 

“Hello Taeyong-ssi! I’m Na Jaemin!” the boy gave him a wide smile. 

“Thank you for the meal Jaemin,” Taeyong bowed slightly. 

“No problem hyung! Dig in!” 

Dinner was a noisy affair, much different than how he usually spent it. Jeno was all smiles and laughter and Jaemin was a ball of energy and sunshine. The combination of the two filled his usually quiet and dark apartment with laughter and light. 

Once dinner ended, Jeno insisted that he do the dishes and allowed Taeyong to help him. 

“So what do you think?” Jeno whispered to him.

“About Jaemin?”

“No, about the Jung gang, of course about Jaemin!”

“He’s nice. I like him,” Taeyong finished drying the plates and moved to put them away, “Is he okay with it all?”

“Yeah. He knows that I left. That you left and got dragged back in. He knows that I only really talk to you, Tae, and Auntie anymore because the others never left.”

“How’s Hyuck doing then?” Taeyong glanced at Jeno to see him stiffen slightly. 

“We aren’t talking right now,” Jeno muttered. 

Taeyong stopped drying the pot he was holding and set it down on the counter, “Lee Jeno, what happened?”

“He lied hyung. He told us he was done when this entire time he’s been working for Kim,” Jeno’s lip trembled, “I’m his twin, I wouldn’t have been mad if he just told me.”

“I’m sure that’s not what he wanted Jeno. Now what else is bothering you with Hyuck?” Taeyong asked softly, reaching up to play with the boy’s hair like he did when they were younger. 

“He got mad at me for telling Nana. He was pissed about it, called both of us some nasty things. I haven’t seen him since he left,” Jeno looked about ready to cry at those words, “He just left, hyung! I’ve never been without Hyuckie for this long. It hurts.” 

“I’m sure he’ll be back soon Jeno,” Taeyong moved his hand to rub comforting circles on Jeno’s back. 

“Thanks hyung, now can we please finish the dishes? We’ve left Nana all alone and you don’t even have a TV.” 


	4. Chapter 4

Taeyong sighed. After several weeks, he still had no real progress on his project. Out of all of his family, he only had trouble keeping tabs on one member, his cousin Jinki. Roughly one year ago, Jinki had disappeared and ever since, Taeyong had been trying to find him. CCTV tapes, convenience store surveillance tapes, even security footage from every mall in the country and he couldn’t find hind or hair of him. For Jinki to stay hidden this long could only mean one thing, he didn’t want to be found. The only alternative, Jinki was dead and someone professional hid the body. 

“Cypher, you’re needed in the boss’s office,” Doyoung’s voice came in through the headset. Taeyong took one last look at the footage in front of him before closing down. 

He untangled himself from his web and slipped his cough mask on, adjusting his hair to cover his forehead before making his way up to Jaehyun’s office. Sometimes as he put on the cough mask and messed up his hair he liked to pretend that he was Ye Xiu, going to win another Glory championship. 

“CEO Jung?” Taeyong stepped into the office, “You called for me?” 

Taeyong was greeted by the sight of nearly every single higher up of Jaehyun's gang. The only member that seemed to be missing was Mark. 

“We have a problem,” Jaehyun stated as Mark entered the office. 

“What’s up boss?” Mark strolled in. 

“The Oh family, the BTS gang, and the Kim family have staked a claim. Each one of them claims to have a key,” Jaehyun stated. Nearly everyone froze, they knew this for what it was. It was a pissing contest, a chance to make the smaller gangs bow to them, a power move, fear tactic.

“So?” Kun asked. It was easy to forget that Kun, a simple medic, wasn’t around during the time the Lee family ran the whole of South Korea. He was recruited long after, when the head of the family died and during the chaos that followed. No one had ever bothered to inform him of the history of South Korea’s greatest crime family. No one thought it necessary. 

“Nearly 7 years ago the Lee Crime Syndicate ruled South Korea. No other gang could compare to them. After the head of the family died, each of the seven heirs received a key. Having a key gives you power over the other gangs, they still fear the Lee Family. Each one of those gangs has a member of the Lee family that was given a key, one of the seven heirs. They want control over the streets and we can’t give it to them,” Jaehyun’s face was harsh.

“That doesn’t matter. The Lee Crime Syndicate is dead,” Mark spat, “Anyone who believes otherwise is delusional.”

“Then why are we having this meeting?” Ten asked, “If the keys mean nothing, then what’s the point?”

“The point is that these guys are pulling a power move over the rest of the gangs. Anyone not part of the family believes the rumors and lies surrounding the keys. They think the keys have some sort of power to bring back the Lee Crime Syndicate. We need to keep them in check and figure out what we’re going to do,” Jaehyun glanced at Taeyong. 

“Just use terror,” Johnny suggested, “Make a statement. Make it loud.” 

“No, we have another, greater, tactic that we could use against them,” Jaehyun sighed.

“We do?” Doyoung blinked, clearly uninformed for a change, glancing up from his tablet. 

“We do,” Jaehyun confirmed, “Only if he wants to go through with it.” 

Message received, loud and clear. 

Mark glanced at Taeyong. Taeyong shook his head,  _ ‘Not yet.’ _

_ ‘We could use you though.’ _

_ ‘Jinki is still missing, we don’t know what happened to him.’ _

Mark nodded, “Only four of the keys are accounted for right now though.” 

Kun mouthed the word four to himself, confused. 

“Lee Donghyuck is with BTS, Lee Taemin was working with the Kim’s last I knew which should still be the case now, I’m here, and someone is working with the Oh’s. That leaves three keys unaccounted for,” Mark pointed out, “Lee Jeno wants nothing to do with this life anymore, so that leaves Lee Taeyong, Lee Sunny, and Lee Jinki to be with the Oh’s unless they’re lying.”

Jaehyun frowned, “You can take Lee Taeyong out of that. I happen to know where he is and he isn’t working with the Oh’s.” 

“Could someone please explain to me what these keys are?” Kun looked around, “I feel like I’m the only one here without a clue.” 

“The Lee Crime Syndicate was run by a set of siblings, Lee Sungmin, Lee Hyukjae, Lee Donghae, and Lee Sunny. Lee Sungmin was killed fairly early in the gang’s history and Lee Hyukjae died in a mission. Lee Donghae lived for quite a while but was eventually poisoned. In his will, he put everything away in some sort of hidden vault and gave each one of his remaining family members a key,” Doyoung explained. 

“So what’s in the vault?” Kun frowned.

“No one knows. Supposedly something to do with the gang,” Mark glanced at Taeyong, “Out of the seven keys, we could only get five, at most if we’re extremely lucky, together at once but we wouldn’t be able to agree on what to do with them. We never got along when Donghae was alive much less now that he’s dead.” 

“Even so, if the keys don’t matter then there is no point in the second tactic. For now we should just say that we have a key and use fear tactics to get the others to back down. We shouldn’t draw too much attention to ourselves right now, the last thing we need is the media on our asses or a target on our backs,” Mark stated, making direct eye contact with Taeyong.

“Any other suggestions or ideas?” Jaehyun asked, glancing around the room. No one answered. 

“Meeting adjourned then,” Doyoung stated, people immediately shuffling out of the room. Eventually only Mark, Taeyong and Jaehyun were left. 

Taeyong scoffed, “You nearly gave me away, asshole.”

“If anyone had questions I would have came up with an excuse,” Jaehyun gave a crooked smile, “I could have told them you’ve been warming my-”

“That’s enough,” Mark interrupted, “I don’t need the details of either of your sex lives.”

“Alright,” Taeyong grinned, ruffling Mark’s hair, “Enough of that. Have you heard from Jinki lately?” 

“No, you know I haven’t,” Mark looked worried, “I take it you haven’t either?”

“I can’t even find him on security tapes,” Taeyong stated.

“So that leaves one key completely unaccounted for. Mom isn’t with the Oh’s. She’s been hanging out on Jeju for the past couple years, enjoying her retirement,” Mark smiled, “She’s planning on joining the haenyeo.”

“Key’s been spotted recently, I gave him a head’s up and he’s moved locations but,” Taeyong shook his head, “He doesn’t know where Jinki is. The last contact they had was when Jinki sold him out to the Oh’s three months ago.”

“He’s been gone for six months, so something must have happened to make him disappear,” Mark haltered for a moment.

“Jinki may be with the Oh Family, best case scenario, he is and he’s under their protection,” Taeyong mused, “If he isn’t, then we don’t know. Either way, we need to find out where he is. If someone put a hit out on him or tried to take him out-”

“They could be after the keys and if they already succeeded, then someone else is in possession of a key,” Mark finished, “In which case we all have a target on our backs, a bigger one that is.”

“That’s not all, I think that Jinki got involved in something he shouldn’t have with the Oh’s. They took Minho out and he tried selling Key to them but Taemin got Key first and put him under Kim protection,” Taeyong added. 

Mark’s face hardened, “Be careful. I’ll warn Mom and Nono, you warn the others.” 

“Good luck Mark. I fear that we may need it soon,” Taeyong gave him a quick hug and Mark took that as his cue to leave.

“Mark figured out your identity,” Jaehyun remarked.

“Of course he did. I’ve been using the same pseudonym since I was five,” Taeyong responded, “I’d be more concerned if he didn’t.”

“What’s your take on all of this?” Jaehyun sat down in his plush desk chair.

“The whole thing’s a bluff,” Taeyong scoffed, “I know what we were given, I know what’s in that vault just as well as Aunt Sunny does. Those keys aren’t worth the trouble they bring.”

“Then why do you keep yours?” Jaehyun asked, turning to face his computer. 

“I know what Donghae left me,” Taeyong turned, “And I know what those keys are really worth.” 

He left the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I definitely changed some stuff in the three chapters that were already up before I switched everything around and I hope that I set everything straight to start adding more plot to this. You can also definitely tell that I originally planned for a relationship between Jaehyun and Taeyong at one point but I couldn't fully fit it in without adding in several filler chapters. So instead you get super obvious hints that they're at least fucking.


	5. Chapter 5

The weeks that followed were chaos. His Aunt Sunny went into hiding in a safe house that she had set up for years. Taemin, Donghyuk, and Mark were safe enough in their respective gangs, having some sort of organization to protect them. Jeno, who refused to go into complete hiding, changed his name, moved houses and transferred branches of the company he worked for. Jinki was still, for all intents and purposes, missing. 

Life in the Jung gang was no better. The BTS gang and the Oh family were in a standoff. Neither side was willing to back down and both sides were causing trouble for the Jung gang. The Kim family refused to get involved and backed whatever the Jung gang wanted to do while all of the smaller gangs decided to take sides. All in all, the streets were a mess, every single gang caught up in a pissing contest between rivals. 

Through it all, Taeyong was busier than ever, keeping up with more and more missions from Jaehyun, trying to keep the peace that lasted in Korea for the past three years. 

Doyoung dropped a folder onto his desk before turning to leave what the gang had affectionately nicknamed, “The Spider’s Web”.

“You’re next mission,” he called over his shoulder as he left.

“Thanks Doyoung,” Taeyong opened up the folder. 

The first thing that he noticed was the picture, his blood running cold. The second thing was the name. 

“Kim Onew?” Taeyong muttered to himself. He shook his head, “No way.”

He grabbed the folder and made his way upstairs. 

Xiaojun paid him no mind as he stalked towards his bosses office, he just gave him a nod to let Taeyong know that Jaehyun was free (not that Taeyong cared). 

He didn’t bother knocking as he opened the door to Jaehyun’s office, finding Jaehyun there with Mark, talking about something or another.

“What is the meaning of this?” Taeyong tossed the file onto Jaehyun’s desk.

Jaehyun glanced at the file, “That’s your new mission. Kim Onew, works for the Oh Family, appeared a couple months back for the first time ever but I suspect he’s been with them longer.”

“ _ His name _ is Lee Jinki and he’s been missing for more than a year,” Taeyong snapped.

Mark looked back and forth at them, confused, “Jinki-hyung?” 

For a second Taeyong was transported back in time, where a much younger Mark had waddled after Jinki repeating over and over in his small voice, “Inki-hyung! Inki-hyung!” Not yet old enough to properly pronounce his name. Taeyong’s heart ached for a little boy who adored his older cousin so much, who had followed him around like a duckling as a child. 

Jaehyun looked perplexed, “All the information we have on him is in that file and the name we found is Kim Onew.”

Mark opened the file to look at the photo inside. The photo was clearly taken from a CCTV camera but the face was clear. Mark’s fingers gently traced over the photo.

“It’s Jinki-hyung,” Mark’s voice was shaky, “I'm positive.”

Jaehyun stood up, “You mean that your cousin who has been missing for months has been in the Oh Family as Kim Onew?” 

“I don’t know, you tell me,” Taeyong snarled, “You gave me this file.”

“That explains how the Oh Family has a key,” Mark pointed out, “And that explains a lot about the fight between BTS and the Oh Family, Hyuck and Jinki have hated each other for years.”

“BTS and the Oh family have had a grudge against each other for years. The fact that Hyuck and Jinki are in each gang isn’t a coincidence,” Taeyong pointed out, “There’s another problem. Jinki went into hiding one year ago. Since then, Minho was killed and Jonghyun was found dead in his apartment yesterday, a bullet in the forehead and signs of torture. He tried to get the Oh family to kill Key only for Taemin to step in and save him. Both Taemin and Key are now with the Kim’s who are keeping them safe.”

“Then this is bigger than we thought. Jinki fucked up and now his friends are paying the price,” Mark theorized, “For all we know, we could be next.”

“The thing is, I was looking into the autopsy report and I don’t think that someone is hunting Jinki, I think Jinki is hunting them,” Taeyong pulled out a flash drive. 

“What do you mean?” Mark asked.

“Only a small amount of the torture marks are from before Jonghyun’s death, the majority of the marks were inflicted  _ after _ his death. Only someone trying to cover something up would do that,” Taeyon stated, “I looked into Minho’s autopsy report after seeing that to check and it’s the same story. On top of that, why else would he try to get Key killed? It could be an accident or a coincidence but what are the chances?”

“So someone has something to hide,” Mark frowned, “That doesn’t mean that it’s Jinki though.”

“Yeah, but waterboarding and a knife to the heart? Specifically a 12 inch knife that skewered the heart with carvings in the blade?” Taeyong asked, “What are the chances? That’s Jinki’s signature.”

“That’s not possible,” Mark looked pale, “Hyung wouldn’t-”

“You don’t know that Mark,” Taeyong cut him off, “We haven’t heard from him in more than a year. When’s the last time you talked to him face to face?”

Mark looked ready to hurl. 

“Okay,” Jaehyun glanced back and forth at them, “So say your cousin really did kill his friends, why?”

“He has something to hide that they knew about,” Taeyong theorized, “I could leave a question for Key but I’m not sure if he’d answer me. He’s still hiding from the Oh’s.”

“What about Taemin?” Mark still appeared pale, “He’s your brother, he’d answer you.” 

“I’m not too sure, he didn’t answer any of my calls and I texted to warn to him about Jinki’s disappearance but he didn’t respond,” Taeyong shook his head, “Either he’s not able to right now, he changed his number, or someone got to him first.” 

“Then we don’t know,” Mark frowned, “We need to get in contact with Key, now.” 

“I just said that I don’t know if that’s possible right now. The Oh Family has been tracking him and their hacker is looking for anything with his signature on it. I’ve been trying to lead him astray but I think he’s catching onto me.”

Mark’s face soured, “Then we know jack shit.” 

“So we start with Kim Onew. Someone has to know something about him,” Jaehyun flipped the file open, “He’s a higher up of the Oh Family, one of the only ones that aren’t related to them. We figure out what the grunts know. Someone is bound to have some sort of information on him. Maybe we can figure out what he’s running from.” 

“I’ll leave a message for Taemin and for Key,” Taeyong said, “Maybe I’ll be able to find something online about him. Unless his phones are all burners, I should be able to find a number for him.” 

“I’ll see what any of the grunts that I pick up know,” Mark stood up, “They might have heard something.”

“Maybe we should get Johnny involved,” Jaehyun suggested, “He’s drugs. He’ll probably know something or know someone who does. Ten might know something too, the Oh family recently set up a meeting with BTS in one of our clubs as a neutral ground. Doyoung might be able to get some information too.”

Taeyong and Mark raised twin glares at him.

“No, this is a family matter,” Taeyong stated.

“Until we can’t get any information this remains a Lee family matter,” Mark continued.

“This is personal.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anything I feel that I should clear up the difference between gangs. 
> 
> BTS: the BTS gang is BTS. So when Hyuck decided to work for Kim, they are referring to Kim Namjoon. Any references to Kim without a specific name refer to him and BTS.
> 
> Oh Family: Basically OT12 EXO minus all the Kims and Kris and Tao. Sehun's family is the one that runs the gang and Jinki works for them.
> 
> Kim Family: EXO's Kims along with all the Kims pre SHINee (so anyone who debuted before SHINee). Taemin is here because of Jongin (obviously). 
> 
> The Jung Gang: so it's pretty much NCT along with the SM Jungs (Yunho, Jessica, and Krystal). Anyone younger than Jeno isn't in the gang. Yunho was the old head of the gang before he died. 
> 
> Other gangs: Pretty much all groups outside of SM have their own gang (with a few exceptions such as solo artists and groups of three or two). Most girl groups are combined with a boy group with an exception for Twice. Red Velvet are their own gang that are allied with the Jungs. 
> 
> Random tidbit: to me, pretty much every group that debuted before 2010 was slurred over by the Lee Crime Syndicate and most of them are dead due to either the Lees or the mess that happened after the Lee Crime Syndicate fell. Sorry to anyone who hoped that SNSD or Super Junior might make cameos or even BigBang and 2PM. They are most likely dead unless I decide otherwise. Also, confirmed kill: Jungwoo was obviously Zeus and he is dead.


End file.
